Hopeless Helper
by Keii-Saru21
Summary: "Is all of this worth it?" Hinata turned to look at the office were he was probrably quietly suffering for his brother and himself. "Yes I have alot to thank your brother for." Their eyes met and they knew it was just a lie. The company was going to fall.


**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own the Naruto characters

**Hopeless Helper**

Chapter 1

"No."

"Yes."

"No"

"Miss, I am asking you politely, we will not hesitate to use force."

"Never!" It was scary how a calm composed person could change so drastically during the course of a few days.

Itachi was entering the waiting room, a familiar sight awaiting him. There were two guards dragging a woman away from Sasukes' office. The woman was screaming to be released; some profanities were heard and threats to take revenge on the Uchihas followed after. As she was dragged out of the office she kicked the door, leaving a big dent on it.

"This is not fair! You will hear from me again and you will regret letting me go!"

Itachi had heard it all before, revenge, anger, hate. It seemed to be a weekly routine, and it made Itachi wonder if it was a good idea to bring his little brother into the higher stuff. Itachi moved out of the way to let the rampaging woman through, he shot the guards a sympathetic look, two doors down, five more to go, that was if they didn't have to get her inside a car to be driven away.

"Number 40?"

Kakashi sympathized with the damaged door and gave it a quick prayer before tuning to Itachi. "No, it's number 42."

So he had missed two firings, Itachi felt lucky that he hadn't been present.

"Remember number 20?"

Kakashi gave a slight chuckle, "yeah, she was cute but…"

Itachis' smile said it all, he was definitely having fun. "What about number 33?" Just the thought of her made both Itachi and Kakashi feel a tingle on the inside, eye contact was made, and everything broke loose, the laughter was unable to be contained.

"If you two are done with your daily routine, get out."

"Warrior poo, I mean Sasuke, what a pleasant surprise to see you here."

Itachi dropped a pencil on the floor and occupied himself with it to hide his laughter. It was well-known that Sasukes' secretary room was empty most of the time, so it was the perfect place where Itachi and Kakashi would go not just to relax, but mock Sasukes previous experiences with the countless trainee secretaries that were made to enter his office.

"What happened to my door?"

"Your ex-secretary happened," replied Kakashi with joy in his voice, this meant that the damages weren't going to come out of his paycheck. "Your office for my services; I think it is a fair trade."

"Call someone to fix it."

"Why don't you ask your secretary, oh wait… you don't have one."

Sasuke turned to his brother, he was obviously not amused at his brothers implications, and he was not about to let it end that way. "You are sitting in their place aren't you?" Sasuke dismissed their stares and entered his office.

"Yano."

"_Yes sir?"_

"Please call someone to repair the door."

"_Yes sir."_

"Sasuke poo is mad."

"Tell me Kakashi, how should I feel about this?"

"He's doing better; at least he doesn't try to fire them as soon as they set foot in his office.

"Yeah. I guess nobody will be able to sit in this desk for more than a month."

"You're wrong, remember secretary 16?"

"How could I forget," Itachis' tone alarmed Kakashi, it was obvious he and Sasuke had been deeply affected by that secretary. "She may have lasted for a year and a half, but there is no room for her in my book."

"I still don't understand why you have such ill feelings towards her but that doesn't matter, the one who really worries me is Sasuke; he seems to show no interest in the companies' doings"

Itachi nodded in agreement, but he didn't blame his brother for the lack of interest. Sasuke had spent his entire childhood years trying to get their fathers recognition, and finally got it two years ago when his father finally let him set foot in the Uchiha building. He knew Sasuke would have forgiven their fathers lack of consideration, but when he was constantly being kept out of the loop, it proved to be difficult with so many blows to the head, and this last one had done it. Sasuke was allowed to work in the building as long as he was able to handle the trainee floor. Fugaku told him he would be involved in the companies' sayings, but he needed to get to know the company better. So Sasuke was the main boss of the trainee floor, which just involved overseeing that everyone was doing their job and working up to Uchiha speed, which meant he had to involve himself in working alongside those who wanted a great career start in the Uchiha company.

The system was simple, last eight months with the Uchihas' fast passed work and it would land you any secretary job you desired. If you lasted a year or more, you could even get the Uchihas asking you to work for them permanently. Few lasted eight months, rarely did anybody last a year, and only one had lasted with Sasuke enough to get her somewhere. It was the accursed Uchiha looks that made the women become mad with possession, and since Sasuke was endowed with the pretty boy face, he was just too irresistible for the secretaries not to molest, landing them in Kakashis' firing office. It was rather amusing, but nonetheless, Sasuke had grown tiered and weary of such a repetitive lack of effort from people, he came to feel indifferent about the company and the position he was in.

Itachi really felt mixed feelings about his little brother and wanted to feel happy for his brother and at ease with himself with the decision he and his father had just taken, but when Sasukes door opened with a loud bang, reality hit him like a big meteor.

"Yano."

"_Yes sir?"_

"Tell the guy to bring double the material."

"_Yes sir."_

Kakashi shook his head at all the door damage; he wouldn't be surprised if Yano had the door repair guy in speed dial.

"I just received a notice that I will get another trainee secretary, we agreed that I would see to their working habits, not that they would be working directly with me."

"If it bothers you so much you should go talk to father, he arrived yesterday from his business trip. Since he couldn't get a hold of you, he sent me to get you; he said he needs to talk to you about something."

"Where is he?"

"He's at our house, but I doubt he will be there for long."

"I'm taking your car." Sasuke waved of his brothers' protests.

Itachi could tell Sasuke was had definitely changed, he really needed to have a serious talk with him about all the crap that was weighing him down. They both silently agreed their childhood had been tough, but they had promised each other they wouldn't let that hold them back. Itachi concluded Sasuke was facing another difficulty or he had gone back on their silent vow.

"Will this have to do with what is going on with the company?"

Itachi put his coffee down while Kakashi drank his with delight. Itachi knew he shouldn't be surprised that Kakashi already knew of the situation, but Kakashi never seized to amaze him with the vast knowledge he would come across on. "Father decided to take care of the situation.'' Itachi was aware that Kakashi has been caught off-guard; it wasn't very often that his father talked directly with Sasuke. The father and son bond was hardly present between the two, and they always seemed to bump heads. Maybe it was because their attitudes were so similar, both blinded by what was in their way, ignoring their surrounding which included each other. Sasuke would always accuse him of being the favorite, but even he had a hard time communicating with his father.

"So what is the conclusion to this dilemma?"

"They haven't told us yet."

"They?"

"Yeah. It's time for somebody to return the favor they owe me."

"Ah." So it had come to this, even Kakashi had to admit to having forgotten about them, but he had a pretty good idea why Itachi remembered. Looking at his reflection in the coffee, Kakashi braced himself for an interesting work environment.

Itachi had achievement written all over his face, but behind his certainty there was something that kept eating at him. He decided to ignore the little monster, whatever the feeling, it was impossible for things to go wrong.

Itachi stood.

Sasuke sat down.

The room felt stale and the smell of whiskey was stinging his senses. He had never seen his father so misplaced and unkempt. His fathers' disheveled appearance was enough to put a hobo to shame. "Itachi told me you wanted to see me."

Fugaku rubbed his forehead, the drinking spree crawling silently and cruelly to his head. "There are a few matters I want to talk about."

A suitcase full of foreign documents was placed in front of Sasuke. They all involved the company's money affairs and those who were connected with it, but the statistics on them were far different than the ones Sasuke had in his portfolio. Sasuke quickly scanned through the paper, the little information that he was able to get out equaled debt and bankruptcy didn't seem to be far ahead. "What is the meaning of this? I have attended the company meetings, but this has never been brought up."

"No, and we must stop it so it can never see the light of day."

"What has been done about it?" It was just a routine question.

"Everything and nothing, that's why I called you here." the glass table clicked as Fugaku served himself another shot. "Would you like some?"

"No."

Fugaku served himself more before putting it down. "How long has this been going on?" Sasuke was well aware at his father's lack of trust in him, but this was ridiculous, he didn't even feel like he was part of the Uchiha Company, much less the family.

"I found out about it just in time to hinder the problem, but it has become difficult to maintain it down. I haven't completed a full year with this issue and I'm at my limit. Itachi, and I am sure Kakashi, know about this. I didn't want to involve you, but it has come to the point where it is no longer an option, but a must."

"What can I do that you and Itachi haven't tried." Sasuke was insulted, he tried to calm his words, but they came with the slight hint of annoyance and sarcasm. He no longer cared why he was kept out of the loop on many simple things, his father and Itachi would most likely work hard even to keep the color of his father's socks a mystery to him. What bothered him was the believe that the Uchiha men were a perfect triangle, the company could never work without the three, but behind closed doors his father always managed to make it work in a straight line.

"Have you heard of the Hyugas?"

Sasuke tried to make memory, but he was sure he had never heard that name before. "No."

Fugaku shook his head in disbelieve, an amused smile on his lips. He served himself another shot. "You see Sasuke, they are everywhere, yet they don't exist. That's why they are the best ones for this job. Yes, we have hit countless dead ends, and they are the only ones that can show us where to go. I don't even know a fingers length about the Hyugas, so if you want to know about them Itachi is the person you should talk to. All I can tell you is that I am going to blindly trust the Hyugas, and you will be our direct link to them. I don't want to know how low we are going or how far we will go, but we have less than a year to get back on our feet and stabilize ourselves. Itachi has provided the solution, and we have both decided that you are the one that is suitable for the job. My mind is full of junk and I can no longer concentrate and wouldn't care if the company fell to ashes. Itachi, well let's just say it will be too obvious if he goes to the front lines. If there is a wrong move during the while process all eyes would turn to Itachi and me, so we want you to take the whole company's responsibility in your shoulders. After me, this company belongs to you two; this is also a test on how well you can deal with a hard hit with little notice. If you are able to save this company, then the company will be on a good foundation, if not, then you and tachi will be left with nothing." It was as simple as that.

Fugaku stood up and Sasuke followed after. "There will be a meeting tomorrow morning, I suggest you stay in the office or get there by two in the morning."

Sasuke nodded in understanding, his eyes focused on the briefcase full of countless files that had been unknown to his eyes a few minutes ago.

"Remember Sasuke, you are doing this to save your company, not mine." Fugaku continued his walk out of the comfort of their living room, empty bottle in hand.

_The sun shone bright, contrary to Itachi feelings. It had been but a year in which their mother had passed away, and the whole family was still trying to cope with the sudden changes._

_A simple request had turned into an argument, which ended in a threat and Sasuke was being involved in something far beyond his comprehension. She had threatened to take them both, but Itachi still remembered how he inadvertently yanked his hand a way as she took hold of it. The rejection in his mother's eyes would be a sight that would hunt him forever. He loved his mother, she was the perfect example of what a woman should be, but he knew his father needed someone to stand next to him; he had a gut wrenching feeling that if he left with his mother the chances of them making up would go from one hundred to zero. He murmured an apology and she accepted it, but was not willing to give up the young one. She took off, leading a confused Sasuke away._

_If only he would have held on to her hand instead of smacking it away._

_The next day they received a call. His mother was dead, and Sasuke was in a critical state._

_They had rushed to the hospital, a swirl of emotions over taking him as he saw his father verify his mother's corpse and a pang in his heart when he saw Sasuke, his head wrapped in bandages, asking him who he was._

_"He seems to have no recollection of who he is, but it's not serious. He is probably still in shock from the accident, with a few talks he should be able to remember."_

_True to what the doctor said, Sasuke was able to recover from his amnesia after a month, with only one side effect, he had no recollection of their mother. He was shown pictures, home videos, and anything that could possibly recoil his memory, but to no avail. His little brother knew who the woman that gave birth to him was, but was unable to attach the emotions he once had for her. When asked about his mother, he sounded like a recorded message, a facade that would forever be there._

_Looking at the time, Itachi decided it would be best to leave his father's office and head out to pick up his little brother. His father had decided to let Sasuke lead a normal school life._

_"He will only go as far as he wishes." Those had been his father's words, and he could not have agreed more._

_Itachi took the hidden path to his little brothers' school, the trees shielding him from the scorching sun. He loosened his tie, and was in the process of unbuttoning his shirt, but was stopped by what sounded like a sniffle, and a twig breaking. He thought maybe it could be a squirrel, but squirrels didn't sniffle. Itachi slowly approached a tree, and instead of finding a squirrel, he found a bunny._

_There crouched in front of the tree was a girl that looked to be about his brothers' age. She was currently doodling , the stick swiftly and gently moving to form what a appeared a well-dressed man, and the ensemble was complete when she drew his eyebrows drawn together, forming multiple of creases on the doodles' forehead._

_"Why is he mad?" Itachis' tongue ran loose before he could stop himself._

_The little girl now looked like a deer caught in head lights. She was dressed very professional, a navy skirt, blazer, and black shoes. Her hair had been picked up in a tight bun, but some of the strands had come loose when Itachi asked her if she was lost. She shook her head no and proceeded to take a step back, but a glance at the angry doodle stopped her in her tracks and she straightened herself out._

_"Sorry if I startled you, my name is-"_

_"U-Uchiha Itachi, son of Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto. __Father alive, mother...d-diseased...brother, Uchiha Sasuke. Owners of the Uchiha Company, still trying to build it up. The company has potential if everything is kept under control."_

_She wasn't looking at him, but at the doodle that was being washed away by the wind, and he had to admit he was impressed. Sure they appeared on the newspapers, but what business did a little girl like have in investigating others business, but assuming by the way she was dressed she probably came from a prestigious family. He would have congratulated whoever was in charge of this girl, but no one seemed to be around._

_"I have to go," the girl was about to take off, but turned to face Itachi this time. Her purple colored pupils caught him of guard as they intently scanned him, children's stares were indeed scary, but this was a different kind of feeling, regardless, it didn't fail to make a chill run down his spine._

_"There is a miscalculation in the new plans, it will only cost you five hundred to fix it, but if you wait too long, repairing it w-will cost no more than eight thousand dollars." She left, leaving Itachi with a pair of questions hanging at the tip of his tongue._

_After picking up his brother, he went over the new plans, and surely he found the mistake._

_"That's a big difference, whoever did this mistake should get fired," Sasuke put his bag down and took out his homework. "How did you know about it?"_

_Itachi stared at the results of his calculations. "A little bunny told me." Itachi ruffled his little brothers hair and took off to tell his father of the new findings, and while he was at it, find out who the smart little girl was._

The heavy mocking on the door awoke Itachi up. "They are arriving."

Itachi was only able to mumble an okay, grumbling under his breath about the couch in his office being too uncomfortable. He rubbed his eyes trying to get the sleep out, but at three in the morning it proved to be impossible. Itachi sat in the dark, allowing his mind to settle back in, slowly but surely it began to compute, the memory childhood kicking his eyes back into focus. Itachi stared out the window, the street lights illuminating the place were a little forest once stood.

Sasuke had been unable to sleep, and after engraving inside his mind all the fake lies he had been fed, took to staring out the window. He had the perfect view to the little park that had been created five years ago. It was quiet, probably only being disturbed by the rushed steps of a jogger who had taken a liking to running so early in the morning, probably one of the many people who had been glad that there was a place they could relax before rushing in for work.

Sasuke remembered there had been a little forest were the park now stood. He would always take that path to school and whenever Itachi would want escape from the torture of benign in the building, he would wonder around before picking him up.

The forest was not the only thing that had changed. Over the years more and more buildings surrounded theirs, trying to compete and challenge them. They weren't the tallest building in the area, but they were the most powerful, or so it is to be perceived. If the other companies knew about their predicament they would not waste any time to jump into action.

"Hey Sasuke, they are here." As usual, Itachi didn't care about his privacy. "Let's go, let's go, I am sure they don't like to be kept waiting." Itachi took to rushing Sasuke, all the while grabbing Sasukes belongings.

"You seem eager."

"Do I now, it must be all the coffee I drank. Here you carry your own stuff." Itachi handed Sasuke his stuff and fixed his tie before entering the meeting room. "Where are they?"

"They are with your father; they will arrive here in a few."

"Are they really that important?"

"It all depends on you Sasuke, but do show some respect. They are very, how should I put this, prideful. More than father, you and I put together."

The doors opened, and in came in his father followed by three man and a woman. "We promise this won't take long, but we wanted to personal come and see Itachi."

Itachi, who had been standing gave another bow. "I am honored."

"I take you will be in charge of this operation."

"That would be me." Sasuke cut in blatantly ignoring Kakashis' warning look.

"I see, well we should start."

"The representatives' name is Neji Hyuga, he is one of our best man. He will arrive today at the company's regular opening hours, once he makes contact with you, our contact will be cut off. He will be under the one year program you have here, meaning he will work alongside you," the woman turned to Sasuke, "This means that you are to give him all the information he requires, but like I said, your company will only be vulnerable to him. I assure you we don't do things halfheartedly, so he will try his best to fix the situation within the year. However, if for any reason he is unable to save your company within the course of the year, he will go over your options and it is up to you what course will be taken." She turned towards Itachi, who had become stern. "Since we both know this is a different situation, we will not have you sign a contract, but we ask you sign an agreement. I sure you, your involvement with us will be forgotten, weather things turn out good or bad."

For Sasuke the whole thing was sketchy, he wanted to ask the woman so many question, but his father passed the paper to him before he could even take in a breath. Pen and paper were practically put in his hands and Sasuke signed, besides, the questions he had were irrelevant to the Hyugas. He handed the signed papers to the woman who shot him a look of disapproval.

They stood, announcing the end of the meeting. "I wish your company the best." The words flew out like it had become second nature to falsely wish wellbeing.

Fugaku led them out and Itachi was going to follow after, but decided against it and preferred to slouch down in his chair. "Disappointing isn't it." Kakashi patted Itachi on the shoulder, which Itachi gave a sigh to. Sasuke ignored the two as he felt everything and everyone tuning out, the effects of an all-nighter finally kicking in. Itachi wasn't going to let his brother sleep; he was going to make him feel as irritated as he was feeling. Getting a hold of the papers the Hyugas left, he slammed them down in front of his sleepy brother. "Oh no you don't, you have to fill these out before that representative shows up, and it will be the first thing he asks for." Itachi left the room, even though he had slept well, it wouldn't hurt to get another hour or two of sleep.

"What is his involvement with the Hyugas?"

"All I know is that it involves a favor the Hyugas owe Itachi, if you want details you should ask him yourself."

Sasuke knew perfectly well that Kakashi was hiding a mocking smile behind his mask; he was fully aware that an explanation from Itachi was not going to happen anytime soon.

Two hours had passed and the hallways were filing up with secretaries that had lost track of time chatting away in the lobby instead of taking care of their morning routine. The new arrivals were wasting their time oogling at the handsome men that worked in the building. And some, like the girl that was heading towards Sasuke, were looking rather lost.

"What is it?'

"Hello my name is Hayuu Hinata, I will be the trainee secretary working under your wing."

"Go tell Kakashi he gave you the wrong slip."

"Mr. Uchiha-"

He was about to snap at her but Kakashi came in time and told them to step into Sasukes' office. "There is no mistake; this will be your new secretary."

The secretary gave an apologetic bow. "I apologize on behalf of the Hyugas. My name is Hyuga Hinata, and I am the representative sent to help you solve your problem."

Yeah, Kakashi was definitely bracing himself for an interesting work environment.

"_I need to head back, how was I supposed to know-"_

Itachi ignored the ranting man on the other line. He concluded in his mind that if Naruto had managed to get a phone, he could manage to get back home. All he needed to do was hold the phone to his ear and act interested so it seemed he was on the phone doing business with some important person. There wasn't much he could do since everything regarding the company's' actual business was in the hands of Sasuke. His computer rang with delight as it announced an email coming from Kakashi, a smiley face had been placed on the subject line. Itachi shook his head as it was most likely Kakashi had just sent him something naughty he had found on the internet. "I see," It was important to give some feedback to the idiot on the other line or Naruto was most likely to hang up and leave him looking for another way to occupy himself. "Hitchhiking won't get you here." Itachi clicked on the e-mail bold italicized letters on a teasing pinkafied background.

"_**It seems that you will be able to see your first love sooner than you thought."**_

It took some time for the message to down on him but when it did, even the girly pink screen wasn't enough to distract him from the thought running through his head.

The chattering on the other end of the line and the corny music that was coming out of his computers speakers were slowly bringing him to reality once more.

"Yeah I'll send an airplane for you, bye." Itachi hung up the phone and muted his computer. What had once seemed impossible was becoming possible and instead of filling him with joy, it took him by throat and filled him with an emotion he could not comprehend.

* * *

**A/N: **I will admit this was rushed and I uploaded it ten minutes before i had to go to work, and I promise I will not do it again, but I wanted to let my wonderful readers know I am still alive. I will revise it but i wont take it down, this story has been in my mind for 6 years and I really want to share it with you. Thank you for your time.


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